


Proper Care and Maintenance of a Kurta

by lasoldata



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2020-09-22
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:21:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26599738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lasoldata/pseuds/lasoldata
Summary: “I found it alongside a pair of the eyes I managed to collect just a few days ago. I researched on it and it seems it has not been published commercially yet; this copy is the only printed manuscript. I figured you should have it, in case..” Kurapika explained calmly.“In case what?”In which Kurapika finds a book written about the maintenance of the scarlet eyes, decides to give it to Leorio, and neither is happy about it.
Relationships: Kurapika/Leorio Paladiknight
Comments: 7
Kudos: 106





	Proper Care and Maintenance of a Kurta

Kurapika sat on a bench outside of the hospital where Leorio was interning in, feeling cold, miserable and like a fish out of water. He had set an appointment to meet with Leorio and he came on time, but seeing the number of sick people coming and going stiffened his resolve to just wait for the doctor to finish his shift knowing the people needed Leorio’s attention more than he did. 

The rain was particularly heavy, and Kurapika could not help but wrap his arms across his chest to stop himself from shivering. His suit was barely enough to provide warmth, and he had no umbrella either. Sighing, he leaned on the wall and closed his eyes, thinking back to the events of a few days ago which led him to seek Leorio in the first place.

A few days ago, he retrieved another pair of eyes, obtained from a famed ophthalmologist whose scientific articles he had come across different high-impact journals in his research. One article hinted very subtle clues which led to another article dropping even more clues until it snowballed into a hefty amount of data leading him to the eyes’s whereabouts. If not for the gravity of his quest, Kurapika would have sneered at the fact that it was technically a review of literature that led him to his desired destination.

He found himself securing an appointment with the said doctor under the pretense of being another academic interested in a co-authoring a novel work about the famous eyes of the Kurta clan, operating on his own without the aid of his mafia underlings. He was welcomed graciously and was led to a dingy office extremely disparate from the expansive mansions he was accustomed to breaking in. Unlike the ostentatious displays of the wealthy and the powerful, the office he found himself in was dank, filthy, and looked lived in. It was half living area and half laboratory. On one side of the room, on a steel table, beside a very thin, mint looking hardbound book, sat the jars of scarlet eyes whose containers were rather smudged with fingerprints, possibly from doing annotations. 

Kurapika felt extreme fury and repugnance bubble up in the pit of his stomach. It was one thing to see his clan’s eyes being displayed like trophies in the luxurious living areas of the rich; it was another to see them being desecrated for the purpose of research. He liked neither. Taking mental notes to calm himself, his eyes skimmed over the book beside the jars and found that its title was enough to unleash the little self-control he had left.

Proper Care and Maintenance of the Kurta Eyes.

He clenched his fists and bit his lip in a futile attempt to control his then raging temper. So it wasn’t enough that they were harvested as world treasures, was it? Apparently, they came with manuals now, too. What were they, items manufactured to be sold and bought and which came with operating instructions? Kurapika felt that his whole identity was objectified now more than ever. 

He did not remember what happened next, but he found himself on the floor, eyes blazing scarlet, pounding his fists against the doctor’s face, intent on inflicting the maximum amount of pain possible. Blood spattered on his face and on his clothes, but he did not care, it did not matter; all that mattered was that everyone who held the eyes should be punished, and he was the arbiter, the only one capable of doing his justice, his pride and his blood and his life be damned.

A sharp, blinding pain on his side snapped him out of his frenzy, as he realized the unconscious doctor underneath him had his men surrounding him, shooting at him from all sides. He moved as quickly as he could, grabbing the jars and the book as an afterthought, to protect them from the shower of bullets ricocheting across the room. Once the items were tucked safely, he stood up to face the small private army, held out his hand, and let his chains do the dirty work.

-  
“Kurapika?”

Leorio’s voice boomed in his ears, waking him from his reverie. He squinted as he composed himself, looking up to see Leorio towering over him. He was holding an umbrella over Kurapika’s head, getting the shoulders of his own scrubs wet from the rain. He looked more concerned than tired from his long hours, his eyebrows knotted together.

“Leorio,” Kurapika managed a small smile at the sight of his friend. 

“Why didn’t you come in for your appointment? What are you doing out here instead?”

“I’m sorry. I had wanted to, but you had all these patients waiting and I did not want to interrupt,” Kurapika said honestly.

“How could you have interrupted when you had an appointment?” Leorio asked, raising one eyebrow.

“Well, I did not want to waste your time for something as trivial so I figured-“

“How can it be trivial when you called me first after ignoring my calls for so long?” Leorio said matter of factly, closing the distance between them.

“Fine. There is something,” Kurapika admitted.

Leorio rolled his eyes and sat down beside Kurapika, not minding that the bench was soaked. He held the umbrella over their heads as he inspected Kurapika’s face. He looked paler than usual and the bags under his eyes were rather prominent. There was a long gash on one of his eyebrows and a seemingly recent bruise on one of his cheeks. His suit sagged on his shoulders too, and while he was as composed as ever, there was a fragility around his aura that Leorio had never noticed before. 

“Are you okay? Are you injured? Are you sick?” Leorio asked, prioritizing the more pressing concerns.

“I’m fine,”

“Bullshit.”

Kurapika averted his eyes while Leorio let out a sigh of annoyance. Of course, he was always fine, he made himself believe he was fine, even when everything else pointed out to the opposite. 

“I did not come here for a medical check-up, Leorio. I am here to give you this,” Kurapika said, taking something out of his suit, handing it over to Leorio.

Leorio looked at it for a while before taking it. Turning it over in his hands and reading the title, Leorio’s expression turned sour.

It was a book. And one with a very offending title.

“Where is the bastard that wrote this?!” 

“I found it alongside a pair of the eyes I managed to collect just a few days ago. I researched on it and it seems it has not been published commercially yet, and this copy is the only printed manuscript. I figured you should have it, in case..” Kurapika explained calmly.

“In case what?”

Leorio looked at him, expecting his eyes to turn scarlet at any point. But Kurapika was still and indifferent.. calm, even. His voice was low and lacked its usual fire, his shoulders sagged, and his eyes were dead and defeated. While Leorio hated an angry Kurapika, he hated this deflated Kurapika even more. 

Sighing, Leorio put down the book on his lap, scuttled closer to Kurapika, and had him locked in a one arm embrace, his other hand still holding the umbrella above their heads. He tucked Kurapika’s head easily under his chin, his lips grazing the other’s blonde hair.

“I’m sorry,” was all he could manage. 

He did not know what to say because really, what was there to say to console the last survivor of a clan that’s been slaughtered for their organs to be sold like commodities?

Kurapika was still and quiet, but he burrowed his face in the nook of Leorio’s neck, breathing in the scent of his cologne and very faint traces of antiseptic. It was cold as the rain had yet to cease, and yet inside Leorio’s one-armed embrace, Kurapika felt very, very warm.

“Come on, let’s go before this weather gets to you. You’re drenched,” Leorio said before pulling away. He stood up and held out his hand for Kurapika to take.

“Where are we going?” Kurapika asked, taking Leorio’s offered hand and standing up.

“Home. You are taking a shower first thing, then I’ll check you up head to toe because I don’t trust your judgment on your health. I’m sure you’re hiding something as we speak. Then, I’ll cook you something warm,” Leorio babbled, his hand tight around Kurapika’s shoulder.

“Leorio?” 

“Hmm?”

“Thank you for taking care of this Kurta”.

**Author's Note:**

> I really just want them to be happy. *sobs*


End file.
